American-born, frequently Australia-based composer Douglas
Knehans looks a trifle bored in the cover photo. His cello music
on this new release by newish Australo-American label Ablaze
is anything but dull: with acoustic, electric, electronic and
singing cellos on offer. Knehans has thrown in something for
everyone, even if such heterogeneity runs the risk of actually
satisfying few listeners.

For more acoustically-oriented tastes, the programme includes
Knehans' relatively orthodox Soar, a lyrical
work for standard cello and piano that Knehans "could not
help thinking of as a short score for a cello concerto."
Written for the soloist Christian Wojtowicz, Soar is
a story about the human spirit and does indeed soar ultimately,
with numerous passages of drama, melancholy, intrigue and passion
along the way. Soar was written a decade on from the
other works, and may mark the beginning of a more mature phase
in Knehans' writing, where tonal acoustic music usurps
experimentalism and brings the composer, in all likelihood,
wider recognition and persistence.

At any rate, the CD opens with Spin, for cello and
computer, the latter supplying various instrumental effects
at speeds over which the cellist has considerable control -
the interpretive 'spin' of the title, though it
might also refer to the blur of movement from Jiři Hoek's
limbs as he scuds through this meaty, virtuosic appetite-whetter.
This is not one of the works scored for electric cello, although
in this recording it does sound amplified. It is ironic, by
the way, that with all the technology on display old-fashioned
page-turning is also audible about halfway through.

Une Seule Femme Endormie is a setting of 20th century
French writer Pierre Jean Jouve's poem. On paper it does
not sound too promising: Knehans' scoring "for high
voice and singing cellist" smacks of gimmickry
- the cellist hums by way of "response to the dense ambiguity
of time and space evoked by the poem." Moreover, Jouve's
text, included in the notes in French and English, is likely
to strike many as pretentious or nondescript. As it happens,
Knehans' piece turns out to be rather atmospheric, and
innocuously short for those not impressed by his singing cellist
idea. That said, Paul York's contribution is in any case
restrained, allowing Susan Narucki to do the real vocals.

According to Knehans, Night Canticle is the second
of "a projected three movement work for solo electronic
cello", following on from Night Chains. He describes
it as "rather more delicate and meditative in nature"
than the latter, but it is in fact reminiscent of a 1950s sci-fi
B-movie soundtrack, and is more likely to engender nightmares
than deep thought. As with much of his music, it is outlandish,
eerie and extravagant; in smaller doses at least it is also
entertaining.

Knehans outlines in his notes the "psycho-emotional and
compositional narratives" Night Chains itself
explores, but here perhaps doth protest too much. The electric
cello often calls to mind an electric bass guitar, and sceptics
may find the stop-start riff-based episodes and spacious acoustic
redolent of the self-indulgent soundcheck of a 1970s or 1980s
heavy rock band at a stadium. The frequent fade-outs only add
to this effect.

Sound quality is very good, although clearly the music has been
mixed. The booklet provides only two sides of notes, but the
font is so small that there is nevertheless plenty to read.
A magnifying glass would come in handy, but the complete notes
in bigger print can be read for free on the Ablaze website here.
Those that do enjoy this disc can look forward to an imminent
new one from Ablaze entitled Cascade, which features
new orchestral works by Knehans.

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